Remains of the Day: By the book

The ebook negotiations game, in case you were wondering, is hardball. Meanwhile, Apple may start trading places (for your iPhone) and your MacBook Air may become even more magical. The remainders for Thursday, June 6, 2013 just had two weeks left before retirement.

The ebook price-fixing trial continues apace, and we continue to hear about how Apple and Amazon negotiated with the publishers, which is starting to sound a bit like excerpts from Glengarry Glen Ross 2: Die Harder.

You've long been able to trade in your current iPhone for money towards the latest and greatest model--but soon you might be able to trade it in to Apple. Apple can, then, of course, refurbish the models you trade in, and trade them to others, who can trade them to others, and somebody eventually ends up with an original iPod.

A nutty case-maker thinks the iPad 5 will be introduced next week, and is now selling cases for the as-yet totally unannounced device. This can only end well--for us, the audience watching at home, anyway.

Might refreshed MacBook Airs appear at the next week's keynote? 9to5Mac says there'll be improvements to the low-end Apple notebooks, including processor improvements, battery-life enhancements, dual microphones, and perhaps support for 802.11ac. We've gotten to the point where I don't even know what to wish for anymore.